It is quite possible that this is the vintage 1970 SG custom Angus had "originally Walnut" where he took the middle pickup out and yes it had gold hardware as he rarely changed anything. If you re-watch the youtube "ACDC: rig rundown" this may be the now "black" former 3 pickup discussed.. and yes.. the gold bridge and tune-o-matic are there and now rubbed nearly completely back to silver, but still noticeable.. I love the look of an SG custom.. I just feel the middle pickup gets in the way when I pick.. those dark cherry Classic Customs of mid 2000's are sweet.. white pickguard.. as are the newer black customs with 2 PUPS.. If I had my choice.. it would be a custom with 2 pickups.. but in nickel hardware... not a fan of the gold as it looks like a museum piece at times..

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Most definitely gold hardware, and an amazing axe. At some point it suffered a break and remained in that state until just prior to the Rock or Bust Tour, in which it made a very welcomed return to the stage. From my research it also appears that many tracks on Back in Black were recorded on the Two Pick-up Custom. With that said, it most certainly is one of Rock n Rolls historic and iconic guitars.

This guitar was definitely the inspiration behind my classic custom purchase. Such a monster this one.

Okay, I finally made some clips to show you what I'm talking about. In the process, I had some revelations, too!

Let's start with This House is on Fire because that is exactly as I tabbed it above:

Next, Have a Drink. Now, this I realized I explained wrong how I play it. The tricky slide down part is actually from 9th to 6th fret on the G string, not to the 7th as I said earlier. That is why it's so often confused for the 5th or 7th, it's actually right between them! Of course, it should have been obvious that Angus would use that little extra blues scale note for one of his most bluesy and slick riffs.

Finally, Girl's Got Rhythm. Now this is the one I had a revelation on. I was always mesmerized by whatever he was doing in this lick to give it that incredible groove and swing and I could never figure it out. I was partially right before in that he is not letting the two side-by-side 7th fret notes on the D string ring out, but it wasn't because he was lifting off the fret for a millisecond as I thought. As I listened closer, I realized that he was actually sliding down from the 8th fret for the second strike of that note. The trick here is not to think of it as an added note because it's not. Think of it as the same note you are sliding to, rhythmically. You have to do it extremely quick or else it throws off the groove.

Also, I had some of the other parts wrong; I didn't know he hit the open A string at all. I will tab this one out because it really deserves to finally be out there in the correct form.

I probably could have done a better job with the slides being more noticeable, but you get the idea.

Most definitely gold hardware, and an amazing axe. At some point it suffered a break and remained in that state until just prior to the Rock or Bust Tour, in which it made a very welcomed return to the stage. From my research it also appears that many tracks on Back in Black were recorded on the Two Pick-up Custom. With that said, it most certainly is one of Rock n Rolls historic and iconic guitars.

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Huh, so judging by that big volute and the heel design, that would be a late 1970 or 1971 model. Just like Ang's first SG. I always figured it was a '68 or '69.

Is it just me or did he deepen the bevels while refinishing? They certainly are unusually deep for an SG of that year.

I'm still not following how you're numbering the fingers. Is the thumb 1st or 5th?

He is definitely palm muting between chords.

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Index is 1, middle 2, ring 3 and pinky 4.. thumb being 5.. he plays the D/F# base and the G with the 2,3,4.. actually justin in this vid tries to explain it.. but he even gets it wrong..

check at about 4:00 where he explains the fingering.. Angus explains that he fingers leaving his index (1) out of it.. using only 2,3,4 for the d/F#.. but he actually rotates his hand lifting the 3rd finger off the G string and using his 2nd finger to play both the F# base on the D .. and then pivoting forward to play the G on the low E.. interesting..not always easy to get a good look at him doing it live.. here at the grammys in 2015.. (3:05 mark) you can actually see Angus reaching with his 3rd finger to complete the G chord.. that is not was he discussed in the magazine article.. perhaps he changed the way he plays it.. we all do it sometimes.. ?? I tried using the 2,3,4 fingering and lifting the 3rd finger and pivoting my hand using the 2,4 for the G chord.. its takes some practice but it also works.. I still prefer using my index on the F#.. but that is my preference..

Angus slides up to the 5th fret G for the first instance, but just strikes the G the second time (for the whole song) while Mal slides up to the G both times throughout the whole song. In fact, let me just tab this out for you, that's easier...

The chorus has always been hard for me to make out what's going on, listening closely to the studio and watching live, I think I've got it. Angus does play one note differently live though. I prefer the studio version.

That's it.. you nailed it i believe.. the chorus is muddy in the mix over the vocals and i was never sure how it went.. thanks a bunch.. this song rocks live too.. this was a very underrated album for sure..

Most definitely gold hardware, and an amazing axe. At some point it suffered a break and remained in that state until just prior to the Rock or Bust Tour, in which it made a very welcomed return to the stage. From my research it also appears that many tracks on Back in Black were recorded on the Two Pick-up Custom. With that said, it most certainly is one of Rock n Rolls historic and iconic guitars.

This guitar was definitely the inspiration behind my classic custom purchase. Such a monster this one.

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Good to know the resources we have in this thread.. lol That is exactly the same walnut guitar and that heavy volute must make it a 1970/71.. hard to believe they felt the thin bodied SG could afford to cut such a chunk out of it and not lose tone.. glad to see that repair.. and the wireless pack back on the strap.. One thing that many dont notice is the bridge pickup ring that was installed so that the pickup can be tilted to follow the neck angle.. this was the only flaw of the full batwing as the one side of the pup get too close to the strings as it is mounted on the pickguard.. even I now have to have one.. looks killer..

that classic custom is awesome.. i thought those were black originally but the dark cherry is a subtle thing.. looks killer.. and love the headstock and binding on customs.. Fantastic..

Okay, I finally made some clips to show you what I'm talking about. In the process, I had some revelations, too!

Let's start with This House is on Fire because that is exactly as I tabbed it above:

Next, Have a Drink. Now, this I realized I explained wrong how I play it. The tricky slide down part is actually from 9th to 6th fret on the G string, not to the 7th as I said earlier. That is why it's so often confused for the 5th or 7th, it's actually right between them! Of course, it should have been obvious that Angus would use that little extra blues scale note for one of his most bluesy and slick riffs.

Finally, Girl's Got Rhythm. Now this is the one I had a revelation on. I was always mesmerized by whatever he was doing in this lick to give it that incredible groove and swing and I could never figure it out. I was partially right before in that he is not letting the two side-by-side 7th fret notes on the D string ring out, but it wasn't because he was lifting off the fret for a millisecond as I thought. As I listened closer, I realized that he was actually sliding down from the 8th fret for the second strike of that note. The trick here is not to think of it as an added note because it's not. Think of it as the same note you are sliding to, rhythmically. You have to do it extremely quick or else it throws off the groove.

Also, I had some of the other parts wrong; I didn't know he hit the open A string at all. I will tab this one out because it really deserves to finally be out there in the correct form.

I probably could have done a better job with the slides being more noticeable, but you get the idea.

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These type of revelations make me lose sleep.. have to get the guitar plugged in and fiddle until i hear it.. great job on these.. These are 3 classics for sure and his blues style comes out in subtle ways.. Have a drink is a classic and the different guitar parts on GGR gives the song a raw but very full sound for what they are playing.. HTH I would say Mutt let them be a live band but polished much of it..(backing vocals were never so good plus he sang on them) Back in Black got more polish until FTATR started to get overproduced..(Think Boston's first album) but still love the songs on FTATR.. and Malcolms guitar was either using humbuckers or just too much gain as he lost the jangle of the filtertrons.. also sound dark like a Les Paul to my ears..??

I'm such an amateur player but i feel the need to get the songs right.. the sound right and the authenticity.. I just watched a documentary on the Amazon Prime about the boys early life and also Bon "before ACDC".. very interesting talking to school mates and guys formerly in the band..

That's it.. you nailed it i believe.. the chorus is muddy in the mix over the vocals and i was never sure how it went.. thanks a bunch.. this song rocks live too.. this was a very underrated album for sure..

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Yeah, at first I thought only the bass hit the F note because you clearly hear the open D and G strings being struck at the same time, until I saw the live videos where you can see Ang and Mal slide back to it.

I had the chorus totally wrong before, I was hitting a B flat where the F is!

Index is 1, middle 2, ring 3 and pinky 4.. thumb being 5.. he plays the D/F# base and the G with the 2,3,4.. actually justin in this vid tries to explain it.. but he even gets it wrong..

check at about 4:00 where he explains the fingering.. Angus explains that he fingers leaving his index (1) out of it.. using only 2,3,4 for the d/F#.. but he actually rotates his hand lifting the 3rd finger off the G string and using his 2nd finger to play both the F# base on the D .. and then pivoting forward to play the G on the low E.. interesting..not always easy to get a good look at him doing it live.. here at the grammys in 2015.. (3:05 mark) you can actually see Angus reaching with his 3rd finger to complete the G chord.. that is not was he discussed in the magazine article.. perhaps he changed the way he plays it.. we all do it sometimes.. ?? I tried using the 2,3,4 fingering and lifting the 3rd finger and pivoting my hand using the 2,4 for the G chord.. its takes some practice but it also works.. I still prefer using my index on the F#.. but that is my preference..

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Yeah, it's a weird way to do it. But apparently he's always done it that way, look at the 1979 music video:

Man, that Grammy performance was so slow in tempo. It's a shame because they didn't play it that slow on the tour. Made them seem older than they already are!

These type of revelations make me lose sleep.. have to get the guitar plugged in a fiddle until i hear it.. great job on these.. These are 3 classics for sure and his blues style comes out in subtle ways.. Have a drink is a classic and the different guitar parts on GGR gives the song a raw but very full sound for what they are playing.. HTH I would say Mutt let them be a live band but polished much of it..(backing vocals were never so good plus he sang on them) Back in Black got more polish until FTATR started to get overproduced..(Think Boston's first album) but still love the songs on FTATR.. and Malcolms guitar was either using humbuckers or just too much gain as he lost the jangle of the filtertrons.. also sound dark like a Les Paul to my ears..??

I'm such an amateur player but i feel the need to get the songs right.. the sound right and the authenticity.. I just watched a documentary on the Amazon Prime about the boys early life and also Bon "before ACDC".. very interesting talking to school mates and guys formerly in the band..

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My only real complaint with FTATR is the closed hi hat, which I never even noticed until somebody pointed it out! Also, Phil's snare is so snappy, he almost sounds like Chris Slade! Otherwise, I'll take that any day over FOTW or BUYV production! Also over LTBR. I got a lot of grief on the ACDC forums for saying LTBR sounds like garbage. Frankly, the both the performances and sound quality were better at the Golders Green Hippodrome '77 show. LTBR should have sounded like that!

But I digress. I agree, the songwriting on FTATR was fantastic. I wish they put that much effort into writing the back half of FOTW or BUYV (not to slag those albums, they have some great moments but could have been even better). Also, I love some of the risks Phil takes like COD with a nearly Bill Ward style jazzy beat.

I've basically spent my whole playing career chasing the tones and playing nuances of the Youngs, and I'm always still learning new things. It's a great feeling when you really nail what you're after.

It is quite possible that this is the vintage 1970 SG custom Angus had "originally Walnut" where he took the middle pickup out and yes it had gold hardware as he rarely changed anything. If you re-watch the youtube "ACDC: rig rundown" this may be the now "black" former 3 pickup discussed.. and yes.. the gold bridge and tune-o-matic are there and now rubbed nearly completely back to silver, but still noticeable.. I love the look of an SG custom.. I just feel the middle pickup gets in the way when I pick.. those dark cherry Classic Customs of mid 2000's are sweet.. white pickguard.. as are the newer black customs with 2 PUPS.. If I had my choice.. it would be a custom with 2 pickups.. but in nickel hardware... not a fan of the gold as it looks like a museum piece at times..

That is sweet..becoming a fan of gold..the block inlays..very classic..but reminds me more if a smokey jazz club that a rock and roll bar.. be interested to know the production runs of customs vs standards..but Gibson most likely does not know.. better to ask someone here...lol

Man, that Grammy performance was so slow in tempo. It's a shame because they didn't play it that slow on the tour. Made them seem older than they already are!

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It was very slow.. and Angus looked reserved.. not his "typical" audience.. btw.. I think Jane Fonda even pre-dates the Youngs and even she was rocking along.. I think things would have been different if Phil was behind the kit.. maybe he was still in jail.. but they love Phil on the drums. I saw some vids from 1981 from a Japanese tour.. very rough video but Phil was at double time.. was unreal the pace he was setting.. I did think lady Gaga's reaction was the best at the end to Tony Bennett.. "That was awesome !!"

I had to plug in last night and try this.. this way does give you much more swing feel and groove as you suggest. I also never heard that open A played on the final note of the D string 7th fret until now.. Angus has such a light touch and in the vids his hands barely move.. or actually he slides so effortlessly that it is hard to pick up on.. he holds his hands cupped in position and no wasted movements ever with him. Funny.. when i saw an unauthorized 1.5 hour documentary about their early years as kids and talking with their friends.. they mentioned that during the week they had strict guitar lessons but on the weekend were free to raise hell (they called them Larrikins - mischieveous, but nice person) lots of discussion with Dave Evans as well.. noting that Malcolm told the original 4 piece band that he wanted to "audition" Angus as the 5th member only 2 weeks into forming the original band. Dave quoted "Angus was a great player, it was only a formality"

Dave also mentions how Mal and Angus traded off on lead until one day Malcolm told the band he wants Angus to play all the leads.. I think the only hint of that early Mal on lead was in the vid of Dave singing with the band on "baby please dont go". The strange costums were Mal's idea.. until a rival Sydney band was doing the same thing..then he made them all go t-shirt and jeans with the exception of Angus.. The big change came when they moved to Melbourne as it had a bigger music scene at the time. It was actually a singer friend of Bon (Vince Lovegrove -they were both in the Valentines) that introduced him to the band as Vince was now a booking agent and had been booking ACDC often and knew they were looking for a new singer.

I had to plug in last night and try this.. this way does give you much more swing feel and groove as you suggest. I also never heard that open A played on the final note of the D string 7th fret until now.. Angus has such a light touch and in the vids his hands barely move.. or actually he slides so effortlessly that it is hard to pick up on.. he holds his hands cupped in position and no wasted movements ever with him. Funny.. when i saw an unauthorized 1.5 hour documentary about their early years as kids and talking with their friends.. they mentioned that during the week they had strict guitar lessons but on the weekend were free to raise hell (they called them Larrikins - mischieveous, but nice person) lots of discussion with Dave Evans as well.. noting that Malcolm told the original 4 piece band that he wanted to "audition" Angus as the 5th member only 2 weeks into forming the original band. Dave quoted "Angus was a great player, it was only a formality"

Dave also mentions how Mal and Angus traded off on lead until one day Malcolm told the band he wants Angus to play all the leads.. I think the only hint of that early Mal on lead was in the vid of Dave singing with the band on "baby please dont go". The strange costums were Mal's idea.. until a rival Sydney band was doing the same thing..then he made them all go t-shirt and jeans with the exception of Angus.. The big change came when they moved to Melbourne as it had a bigger music scene at the time. It was actually a singer friend of Bon (Vince Lovegrove -they were both in the Valentines) that introduced him to the band as Vince was now a booking agent and had been booking ACDC often and knew they were looking for a new singer.

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Yeah, I forgot to mention, he has never done it live as far as I can tell. IDK if it was something Mutt suggested and he considered too fancy for live performances or what. No sign of it even in the mimed Top Pop performance in '79. And that's why the song doesn't have the same groove live.

There was a song with Bon on High Voltage where they traded leads... Show Business! That's what it was.

Man, some of those costumes in the early days were ridiculous. Mal was a fireman or something with these obnoxious yellow boots.

Yeah, I forgot to mention, he has never done it live as far as I can tell. IDK if it was something Mutt suggested and he considered too fancy for live performances or what. No sign of it even in the mimed Top Pop performance in '79. And that's why the song doesn't have the same groove live.

There was a song with Bon on High Voltage where they traded leads... Show Business! That's what it was.

Man, some of those costumes in the early days were ridiculous. Mal was a fireman or something with these obnoxious yellow boots.

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They were trying to stick out from the competition but realized the only gimmick they needed was Angus.. When I was watching Amazon Prime and they had those poorly made documentaries.. the one interesting show was some old live performances "ACDC - Hell's Highway Live" had a performance on TV from "King of POP - 75" where Mal had the beast still in red with the center humbucker.. the reason he probably hated it was the location.. in the middle.. he should have taken out the filtertron and routed it out a bit to fit the humbucker in the bridge.. he was wearing white pants.. red long sleeve shirt and those ugly red fireman boots in this one.. Bon had a white jumper with velvet red jacket.. quite a show.. This also had some of the live stuff from Japan Feb 1981.. really up tempo show.. shot down in flames and what do you do for money honey I remember .. and Brian with the big afro.. Japanese were throwing toilet paper and streamers all over the stage..

Its a wonder Angus did not break off more neck or headstocks with all his antics back then..

They were trying to stick out from the competition but realized the only gimmick they needed was Angus.. When I was watching Amazon Prime and they had those poorly made documentaries.. the one interesting show was some old live performances "ACDC - Hell's Highway Live" had a performance on TV from "King of POP - 75" where Mal had the beast still in red with the center humbucker.. the reason he probably hated it was the location.. in the middle.. he should have taken out the filtertron and routed it out a bit to fit the humbucker in the bridge.. he was wearing white pants.. red long sleeve shirt and those ugly red fireman boots in this one.. Bon had a white jumper with velvet red jacket.. quite a show.. This also had some of the live stuff from Japan Feb 1981.. really up tempo show.. shot down in flames and what do you do for money honey I remember .. and Brian with the big afro.. Japanese were throwing toilet paper and streamers all over the stage..

Its a wonder Angus did not break off more neck or headstocks with all his antics back then..

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Oh yeah, that Tokyo 81 show was awesome! They played a lot of stuff sped up around that time. I assume it was to fit more songs into their time slot.

I was also shocked to see how Angus plays "the jack" as one can stretch like crazy there..but he just plays single notes on the first line..(correction, on the verse on the soft parts for single notes and double stops) up on 1st and 2nd positions..once again..no stretching for Angus..

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Not sure which part you are talking about. I just know that I struggled with with the stretches across 6 frets in the intro. I watched live videos and noticed that Angus doesn't do any crazy stretching as you said. I wasn't exactly sure what he was doing but I found out that I can just play the the stretchy note in the same fret as my index finger, just one string higher:
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
---------------5--------
--7---7--9-------------
--5---5--5----5--------

Index is 1, middle 2, ring 3 and pinky 4.. thumb being 5.. he plays the D/F# base and the G with the 2,3,4.. actually justin in this vid tries to explain it.. but he even gets it wrong..

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I learned the song from Justin's video but quickly changed to another fingering (which I haven't seen mentioned here before) that I find most comfortable:
D/F# with fingers 1,2 and 4 and the G with 2 and 4. This way I only need to move the second finger between the E- and B-strings.

Not sure which part you are talking about. I just know that I struggled with with the stretches across 6 frets in the intro. I watched live videos and noticed that Angus doesn't do any crazy stretching as you said. I wasn't exactly sure what he was doing but I found out that I can just play the the stretchy note in the same fret as my index finger, just one string higher:
------------------------
------------------------
------------------------
---------------5--------
--7---7--9-------------
--5---5--5----5--------

I learned the song from Justin's video but quickly changed to another fingering (which I haven't seen mentioned here before) that I find most comfortable:
D/F# with fingers 1,2 and 4 and the G with 2 and 4. This way I only need to move the second finger between the E- and B-strings.

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I have seen Angus play this various ways now in his older age.. but for instance.. when they the main intro riffage on the B power chord say on the A string 2nd and D string 4th.. then he follows without any stretch to hit the G# on G string 1st fret and then the A note on the 2nd fret of the G.. no stretch to reach the G# ..Angus style has really been evolved due to his small stature for sure.. I have seen that A chord run as you described on the river plate vid.. but you can see instead of hitting that A string 9th fret he could back off to the 4th fret D string (F#) before hitting the G note.. in each case.. no pinky reach..both are right..

HTH intro can be played many ways.. Angus method is awkward to me as well.. I think the main thing is to keep the groove and he starts the riff on an off beat.. most dont get that and mess it up going forward.. thank God both Angus and Mal keep such wonderful time with their legs tapping to Phils rock solid beat..

Watched the documentary about the making of BnB and some really good insight from Mutt's engineer Tony Platt.. mentioned that on Shoot to Thrill .. they wanted to do some retakes on parts of Angus' solos.. and they were in a different studio and Angus' gear was packed up.. so he could not record with his Shaffer wireless. Had to use a cable straight in to amps.. Tony to this day cringes when he can hear Angus' tone change without the boost from the wireless

He also said that "you shook me" had some collaboration and he takes claim for the line "Working double time, on the seduction line" they also mention that as much as they want to believe Bon wrote a lot of the lyrics on that album.. that he is credited only for "She told me to come, but i was already there"

You shook me vocal performance was not what Mutt had intended with accent and timing.. he wanted pause between each line.. but Mal squashed that quickly and said Brian is to sing straight through.. no pausing.. The boys also put all the emphasis in the chorus on "YOU".. also not as Mutt wanted it..

It was the first time Mutt let the band just play and did not take 3 years to produce an album like he was famous for..just cleaned them up and double tracked things a bit more..